I am sorry that I really haven't been updating this very much. Life always finds a way to, well, get in the way. I attempted to type up a post a couple of days to a week ago about all of my summer projects, but it ended up boring me so I didn't finish it. But, I found that I couldn't delete it either because of the fact that I had already spent time writing it out. I suppose after I post this one I will delete the other one.
I just returned from my first trip to Denver, CO. I was really nervous about flying out there and checking everything out, because of all that I heard about it. Everyone who knows the area seems to adore Denver, and I was frightened that my positive view of it would be a let-down and I would be unhappy.
For me, location is everything. If I am not happy where I am located, then I am going to be miserable the rest of the time I am there. Perhaps it stems from being rudely uprooted from my home state and being forced to come to a place and culture so different from what I knew. Perhaps it isn't really a perhaps, but a complete certainty. Now that I have control in my life, I refuse to be placed somewhere that I don't enjoy. Location is everything to me, and I will be damned if I don't like where I am located.
This is not to say that I regret moving to Minnesota. Well, let me rephrase that; I do not regret moving. The experience that I learned from moving to somewhere so different from what I was used to has changed me in profound ways. I know so many of my friends and acquaintances that can barely move out of their own hometowns without having great anxiety, let alone move out of state. I think that they are really missing out on a huge experience. Without challenging your thoughts on how the world operates and seeing the world through a different culture, how can you possibly grow? I applaud the students that took the plunge and moved out of state for college, that takes a maturity and a sense of learning and wonder that I wish more people had. I believe they have learned more about themselves and how to look at the world around them than someone who went to a college close to their homes.
Because of being uprooted from the place and culture that I loved, I feel that I am no longer content with just staying in one place. When I was given the chance to apply out of state for grad school, I took that and ran with it. I applied to numerous areas I had never been to before, including Denver. I knew I needed a change of scenery and I needed to put myself out in the open once again. I needed to feel vulnerable, scared and self-reliant. There is a sense of adventure and thrill when you go somewhere you have never been to before. I seek that desperately now.
I don't know if I will actually stay in Denver for the rest of my life. I enjoy it enough that I could, but there are still so many places I want to go and experience. Being uprooted from my home has created this inside of me, and I would only hope that more people would develop this. Home is where you call it, not where family is or where you originated from. If you are attached and insanely close to your family, there is nothing wrong with staying near them. But, I feel that those are the people that need to explore and live somewhere else the most. Challenging our thoughts and seeing how others live allows us to grow and become mature. Otherwise we would remain closed-minded people who can only understand our own point of view. The US is such a diverse place compared to most countries, it's almost a sin to not explore other areas and live somewhere else for a while.
Either way, each person has their own way to live. But, I would encourage everyone to really focus on getting out of their comfort zones every once and a while. Do something you would never do, go somewhere you never wanted to go. The negative feelings are only temporary and the thrill and excitement you experience will really change how you view the world! I had a very difficult time with moving to Minnesota, but I thirst for those experiences again in my life. Now that I have taken the plunge with this, I feel that I will never be content just sitting and being in one place ever again.
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